By William Duncan

Stephen Kenny's men are in fine form and Willie Duncan expects them to heap more misery on Aaron Callaghan's relegation-threatened side when they meet at Oriel Park

Dundalk will look to maintain their challenge for the Irish Premier Dvision title when they play host to struggling Bohemians at Oriel Park on Friday evening.

Stephen Kenny’s side have won four of their last five league outings to move within six points of league leaders St Patrick’s Athletic and, with Saints not in action until Sunday due to their Europa League commitments, the home side could close the gap at the top with victory here.

Dundalk are chalked up as warm 1/2 (1.50) favourites with BetVictor to claim all three points from Friday night’s encounter.

Bohemians, without a win in their last 11 Premier Division outings, are chalked up at a chunky 11/2 (6.50) with BetVictor to halt that alarming sequence of results with a win at Oriel Park while the same firm go 3/1 (4.0) that the match ends all square.

It is worth noting that each of Dundalk’s last six league victories came by a single goal margin while no fewer than five of those games ended in a 1-0 victory for Stephen Kenny’s men so whilst the Lilywhites have been solid defensively, they have hardly been in free-scoring form of late.

Shot-shy Bohs have managed just one goal in their last seven matches in all competitions and, with that in mind, the 19/20 (1.95) quote from BetVictor for Dundalk to keep a clean sheet on Friday night is a price which is sure to attract plenty of support from punters.

There also appears to be value in the 20/23 (1.87) quote from BetVictor that Friday’s clash at Oriel Park features fewer than three goals.

Incredibly, no fewer than 34 of the 49 goals that have been scored in the Lilywhites’ games this season have come after the break and, should that trend continue on Friday, then BetVictor's generous 20/23 (1.87) quote that Dundalk win the second half would certainly appeal.

For those looking to bag bigger prices, BetVictor’s juicy 17/5 (4.40) quote from the same firm for the match to be level at half-time with the hosts winning the second half is certainly worthy of consideration ahead of Friday's clash.

Willie Duncan is a freelance sports journalist. Willie, from Edinburgh, has covered Scottish football for over 10 years and he specialises in football betting markets from across Europe. You can also follow Willie on Twitter